Swing Boats
by TwentyOneCatWhiskers
Summary: Dan tapped his foot. Where was Sean? He said he'd be here by now. Why was Dan always the one who had to stand around and wait..? Why is Mark here? And why is this place even shutting down anyway?
1. They Said They'd be Here by Now

**A/N: Hey! So, this is only going to be a short little story (maybe 2 or 3 chapters) but I felt I needed to write down this really weird dream I had (I know, I have a lot of weird dreams) that actually included Jacksepticeye. I don't really watch his videos a lot, so sorry if he's a tad out-of-character, I tried my best. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first part of this little fic, and until the next chapter, ciao.  
-Whisker**

* * *

"Where is he? He said he'd be here by now…"

That was the voice of Dan Howell, talking to himself as he impatiently tapped his foot on the ground and folded his arms.

He'd been standing around here for a good half hour, waiting, and yet still nobody had turned up.

Gazing to his left as he heard the somewhat happy screams of people, he set his eyes upon the large Viking swing boat that was swaying to and fro, suspended on a great, huge frame.

This was not out-of-place in the slightest because he was in a theme park.

On his own.

He had been with his best friend, Phil Lester, but he had gone off to find a certain Sean McLoughlin, who was supposed to be meeting up with them by the Swing Boat beside the gift shop.

But he was late.

Sean – more commonly known as Jacksepticeye – was a YouTuber, just like them, who was largely more popular, but whom had decided non-the-less that a meet-up would be a nice thing to do.

Dan had sent Phil off to look around for him – thinking maybe he'd gotten lost – when he hadn't turned up after 15 minutes, but thinking back, Dan decided that probably wasn't the best decision to make, taking into consideration Phil's poor sense of direction and orienteering.

Doubtless, neither of them would be coming back for another half hour at least.

This was when people started streaming off the Swing Boat and knocked him to the side in all of the kerfuffle.

Dan frowned and stood back from the people congregating a way away from him. Why did _he_ always have to be the one who just stood around?

It took him by surprise, though, when a gentle hand came to rest on his right shoulder.

Spinning, slightly startled, to the side, his eyes met the gaze of Phil, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden, wearing a blue cowl-neck sweatshirt with one large pocket all the way across the front.

"I'm taking it you didn't find him?" Dan whimpered, relaxing at once.

"Nah; but I called him and he said to meet him at the restaurant in five minutes," Phil replied, taking his phone out of his jean pocket and checking the time before replacing it.

"This park has a restaurant?" Dan questioned, not remembering seeing one on the map, " _Where?"_

"Other side of the park, apparently," Phil told him, putting his other hand in his sweatshirt pocket, too, and turning away, "Come on, then – we don't want to be late."

Dan rolled his shoulders, fixed his hair and followed him, slouching slightly as he walked.

"Hey, don't be like that, Dan," Phil muttered, "We've only been waiting thirty-five minutes, it's not like we've wasted the day or anything."

"I know, I know…" Dan sighed, "I'm not bothered, I'm just… hungry," and he stared up to the sky to his left, seeing the towering, red roller-coaster that sat around half a mile away and that had one of the steepest drops that Dan had ever seen.

He decided to keep his eyes on the path ahead of him to avoid walking into anything or anyone, avoiding puddles of spilled coca-cola and ice cream as he did.

He wasn't sure that Phil knew where he was going, but followed him anyway because neither did he.

The theme park was busy today – it seemed everyone around had turned up – and with good reason: tickets were free this week as the whole place was shutting down. You could tell it was closing from the boarded-up shops (there was only one left open) and decaying decorations that looked as if they were just about ready to fall to pieces.

The rides were all operating, however, and there were hundreds of people long queues for every one.

Where they would find the restaurant was unknown, and it was quite a way to the other side of the park, so Dan just carried on walking.

Swerving out of the way of running visitors and large obstacles, both he and Phil eventually came across a slightly run-down and small restaurant.

Seeing as it was the only eating-place open, they headed inside and were immediately confronted with the aroma of cooking and freshly ground coffee.

Casting a long gaze around the room, Dan scanned over every table until his eyes came to rest on one at the very back where a young man was seated. He had an emerald green fringe and was wearing a grey cardigan, black beanie and glasses.

Tapping Phil on the shoulder to alert him, Dan turned back to his friend, who was staring up at the menu above the counter.

"What's up, Dan? Have you seen him?" Phil asked.

Dan nodded and gestured in Sean's general direction.

"Oh, well done; you go and say hello and I'll get us both a coffee, OK?" Phil suggested, and so Dan wandered over.

He was a little bit nervous but he didn't know why: they'd met before and had gotten on quite well, too, so he needn't worry.

"Oh, hey there, Dan!" Sean smiled as he saw Dan coming towards him, "Sorry I had to leave you waiting for so long… I got a bit lost, you see," and he laughed.

Dan gave a nervy chuckle in response, idly scratching the back of his neck,

"Ah, it's alright," he assured him, "We weren't waiting _that_ long. After all, we have all day."

"Right! So how have you been?" Sean asked as Dan sat down opposite him.

"Oh, we've been good; just busy with the move and all, you know? But we've more-or-less settled in now, so everything's fine," Dan replied with a smile.

"And how about Phil? How's he?"

"Fine as far as I know – I can never really tell."

This was when Phil himself appeared beside them, two mugs of coffee in his hands, looking a tad surprised at hearing his name.

"Am I… interrupting anything?" He asked, laying one cup down on the table and sliding a chair back from the table before sitting down.

"No, don't worry," Dan said, briefly pulling his friend to his side and patting his arm, "Just talking about the move."

"Oh, were you?" Phil hummed, wrapping his hands around his coffee cup to warm his palms.

Dan nodded and adjusted his gaze to stare out of the window that was set into the wall to his right.

Outside, he could see a towering, yellow roller coaster with blue stripes painted onto the supports. Every so often, Dan could witness a car travel past on the tracks and hear the helpless yet excited screams of the people aboard it.

He couldn't wait to get on some rides later with his friends. That's if the queues weren't too long.

"Dan?" Came Sean's voice, tearing him from his thoughts and back to reality.

"Hmm?" Dan answered, turning to him.

"Should we stand outside in the fresh air?" Sean suggested.

"Uh… Sure, I guess," Dan nodded, sliding back in his chair and shakily getting to his feet. He didn't think that going on any roller coasters just after a hot drink was a very good idea, but watching people on the rides sounded like fun, so all three of them headed outside and into the air.


	2. Digression

**A/N: I should probably clarify that this whole thing was only inspired by a dream, not straight copied out. No, no, of course not. My dreams are a lot weirder... (cue flashbacks to The Grass Fic. Why did I even call it that? It makes it sound dodgy)... Hmm... I swear I'm mentally sound.  
I also love theme parks - I'm going to one in June with the fam.  
I won't say fam.  
Let's move on.**

-Whisker

* * *

Dan breathed in the fresh(ish) air and lifted his gaze to the clear sky. It was a nice day today – strangely bright and cloudless – really a great day to take a trip to a theme park.

Taking a sip of the coffee in his hand, he wrapped his right arm around Phil's shoulders to keep him from disappearing; Phil had a habit of doing so, wandering off without warning and somehow appearing back beside him a while later, usually with a strange story to tell.

Looking about, Dan saw that other things outside in the theme park included some flat rides, swings, and an odd stage that was shaped like a pirate battle galleon.

There was a show that went on every day on the stage every three hours, but seeing as it was closing night tonight, Dan assumed that wouldn't be an attraction.

He cast a glance to Sean.

"Today's the last day, isn't it?" He queried.

"Certainly is; look, they're starting to close things down already," Sean replied, and sure enough, across the path from them, three operators were shutting down a large, spinning-type ride that looked like a saucer on an odd, curved structure that it would travel and spin up and down on.

"You don't think they'll put on one last show before it all closes, then?" Dan asked.

Sean shrugged and checked his watch: 12:30.

"It's the usual time at the moment so, if they're going to, it'll be starting soon," he said, looking back up again.

"Well, if we're going to be standing around anyway, we may as well wait and see," Phil suggested, warming his cold hands on his cup again, his long, thin fingers wrapping like a spider's legs around it.

A roller coaster car sped past behind them and Dan could hear the startled screams of its riders, a child's voice sticking out amongst them, one that he recognised, in fact, though he didn't know from where.

There were, facing the battle galleon stage, many tables and chairs, all metal and looking like they'd be quite hot from the sun shining on them for so long.

Dan decided that he wanted to sit down anyway because it was – as mentioned previously – a very busy day today and, being as he was, he'd probably be walked into a few dozen times if he kept on standing.

He wished he'd brought his sunglasses, but then again, he'd only have to find somewhere to put them because you can't wear glasses on roller coasters, as far as he knew.

He could put them in his pocket, he supposed, but then he'd risk sitting on them. He had no idea how Phil was going to manage. Maybe Phil's glasses had bent around his head by now and could only be removed by his own hands.

Why didn't he carry around a satchel or something? That'd be very convenient, he should do that more often, he considered.

TANGENT!

Boats.

There were a lot of boats in this theme park: is that why it's called a theme park? A boat theme? Boats. Swing boats.

Swing boats are fun: they had them at fairgrounds in the Victorian era and called them shuggy boats; they're not quite as popular in this modern day and age, maybe they were considered too dangerous. You sit opposite somebody else and there were two ropes hanging down that you pulled to swing back and fourth.

The Swing Boat here was actually _technically_ called a Pirate Ship, despite it being designed like a Viking long boat. Looked like fun, Dan supposed, even if a little bit rusty.

It made a noise so loud when it swung that you would be able to hear it from the other side of the park on a quieter day, so maybe it was for the best that it was shutting down.

Like all the other rides here, in fact... Dan was surprised that he hadn't yet witnessed a coaster train plunge off the rails and groups of first-aiders and medics hurrying to the scene of the accident only to find that everyone had multiple broken limbs. Not that they could sue the park, really; the place was already closing its gates and tickets were free anyway, but maybe they could get some sort of compensation from… somewhere.

Dan decided he should stop thinking about theme park casualties just before he was going to go on loads of rides with his friends.

Considering Phil's past of ill-timed episodes, he wouldn't be surprised if something broke down whilst they were on it.

To be fair, it _had_ happened before.

Lost in his thoughts, Dan brought his cup to his mouth but found that he'd already drunk the whole thing of coffee and instead took the lid off and stared at the empty cup, disapprovingly as though it was its fault for running out.

It happens with malteasers, too: you save one last malteaser and when you decide you finally want the final one, it's not there.

 _Where does it go?_

Sock goblins were the only answer: the same little creatures that probably creep into your house to steal one of your socks as you sleep so that you never have a matching pair.

Maybe that's why Phil always wore odd socks: he just had a detrimental history with sock goblins.

Learning so much about Phil Lester today…

Speaking of Mister Philip, Dan looked down to him to see that he'd fallen half asleep with his chin resting on his arms, which he'd folded on the tabletop.

"Are you tired? How can you be tired? You just had coffee, mate, you should be hyper," Dan pointed out, flicking him on the arm.

Phil opened his eyes to gaze upwards, the sunlight glaring off the reflection in his glasses.

"I'm bored," Dan added.

"Why don't you go off and go on something on your own?" Sean suggested, "We might just stay here and… chill… you know?"

Dan was on the fence about doing that: he was usually really over-protective of Phil – him being his only friend and all – and didn't like leaving him with other people in case he started to favour them over him, but he supposed Sean was alright.

It'd take a lot for Phil to stop being his friend, wouldn't it? Dan certainly hoped so.

But you never know, his sarcastic humour and sardonic remarks might one day drive his friend away from him.

He shook his head to banish his thoughts.

"No?"

That was Phil, sounding surprised.

"No- I mean, yes- I mean…" Dan stuttered before sighing, "I mean… I'll go off on my own for a bit. You look tired, you have a rest and I'll be back in ten minutes," he decided, pushing his seat back (which made an unpleasant screech on the ground as it moved) and standing up, giving his friend a gentle pat on the back before turning away.

He got half way along the path to the biggest roller coaster in the park before he realised he should have left his sunglasses with Phil so that he didn't have to find somewhere to put them.

He started walking back but then he remembered that he wasn't actually wearing sunglasses and swivelled back around, feeling a bit silly.

A lot silly.

That's not correct English.

Nobody cares; carry on.

Roller coasters are weird, Dan thought to himself as he joined the queue, because what are they for, really?

You sit in a train on some metal tracks with a load of sweaty strangers that smell of pizza and/or cheap perfume and then you set off along this track and the operator watches you go with this look on their face like they really don't want to be there. In my mind, they're stereotypically young men with brown, curly hair in tangles, wearing their uniform even though it's a bit too big for them as they idly chew some gum that they've probably had in their mouth for the last half hour.

And why are you even on this train in the first place? To be scared? Why do you want to be scared? For fun? Humans are peculiar creatures.

They scream at the top of their lungs as they go upside-down and you can never tell whether they're having the time of their life or whether they legitimately believe they're going to die.

There's always this one kid whose parents have made him go on it and he curls up like a Pokèmon in a pokèball and usually has his eyes squeezed closed (even though that generally makes it worse) and an expression like they want death. They've predictably also eaten four slices of pizza beforehand and will cry as the ride is going on and doubtless will be sick as soon as it finishes, then the queue will last twice as long because the cleaners will have to come and wipe everything up.

That got graphic.

' _Adrenaline.  
_ _'Noun.  
_ _'_ _Adrenaline_ _is used in both technical and nontechnical contexts. It is commonly used in describing the physiological symptoms (such as increased heart rate and respiration) that occur as part of the body's_ _fight-or-flight_ _response to stress, as when someone is in a dangerous, frightening, or highly competitive situation, as well as the feelings of heightened energy, excitement, strength, and alertness associated with those symptoms'_

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, at least.

Still didn't really explain why you'd want to sit in a metal car with a load of sticky strangers that will inevitably swear in your ears when you're just innocently trying to enjoy your metal-rail-riding experience… for whatever reason you'd want to do that.

It then occurred to Dan that he would also have to sit next to a complete stranger, too. This is why he should have dragged Phil along – the adrenaline rush would have woken him up at least.

That would have been a better idea.

Too late now.

'Ugh. Why am I here? Why is this person smiling at me? Is he going to try and make conversation? Why did he have to sit next to me? There's plenty of spare seats…'

Uncanny.

People are weird.


	3. Espresso Lion

Dan shakily clambered out of the roller-coaster train at long last. The ride had seemed to go on forever, even though in reality it was probably only five minutes.

Twists and turns and loop-the-loops made his head spin but it was all in good fun at the end of the day, even if he was feeling very giddy right now as he stumbled down the path and to the exit of the ride.

He closed his eyes to steady himself and stop the world from spinning like a tumble-dryer, but this was obviously a very bad idea, as the next thing he felt was a violent thump to his shoulder and he almost fell over.

Shooting his eyes open, Dan looked to the left to see that he had walked into an unassuming bystander who was innocently stood, reading a map in his hands and who probably wasn't expecting to be walked into.

"Oh! Sorry, mate," Dan apologised, awkwardly, "Still a tad dizzy, you know…"

"It's _fine_ ," the man said in a very rich voice, looking up to him and brushing his espresso-brown hair back out of his face.

He was well-built but slightly shorter than average; Dan guessed around 5'9" – just tall enough to reach the top shelf at the supermarket without people asking whether he needed help, presumably – so quite a bit smaller than himself.

Dan recognised him easily, even though his face seemed to be circling around him at an alarming velocity.

"…Mark?" He breathed, clearing his throat.

"Uh… yes. It's… Uh… _Ach!_ Sorry, I recognise you but I can't remember… Where from…"

"Dan," Dan swallowed, holding his hand out, "Dan Howlter- I mean Howell. You might know me as danisnotspinning- no! Wait… Danisnotonfire… that's it. Even though I changed it to Phaniel Howell- I mean Daniel Howell…"

Mark laughed, folding up the map in his hands and slipped it into the pocket in his jeans,

"Oh yes; that's it! Do you need a hand there, Dan?" He asked, politely, as Dan shook his head to try and right his senses.

"I'm fine," he told him with a decisive nod.

"Are you here on your own, then?" Mark asked, guiding him away to a place where they wouldn't be bashed to the side in casts of excited visitors,

"No, Phil and Jacksepti- I mean, Sean – are here, too… somewhere…" Dan replied, "I left them outside the restaurant but they could've wandered off by now: Phil has a habit of doing that."

"Well, let's go and find them, then; I wouldn't mind saying hello!" Mark smiled, his chocolate-coloured eyes glinting in the glow of the sun.

"Alright then…" Dan nodded, returning the grin. He'd never really met Mark properly (or, as he's better known, Markiplier) before, and seeing him here was… really quite un-nerving actually, now he came to think about it.

"We'd just finished coffee but Phil was somehow still really tired so I thought I'd go moseying off on my own for a bit," he continued, blinking once and gazing around, using his hand as a shield against the sun.

He could still taste the coffee on his breath, mixed with an even more bitter taste that generally accompanied roller coasters after eating.

"I don't know why he's so tired, actually; he's usually _full_ of life," he finished, "Probably because he drinks so much caffeine."

Phil reminded him very much of coffee, actually: espressos were deep, like his voice, and dark like his hair and he had as much energy as caffeine would give you. Maybe he was just a living espresso.

Or a lion: he liked lions.

 _An espresso lion!_

Dan had no idea what an espresso lion would be, but it sounded like something that he'd want to stroke for hours on end… or maybe not, seeing as lions… eat people.

Never mind, forget the espresso lion.

And if Phil was coffee, what did Dan think of himself as? Tea, he supposed. His hair certainly matched, he was sophisticated, distinctly British and always warm.

Dan decided he needed to stop comparing himself and his friends to hot beverages and so he kept on walking.

He'd been letting his imagination run away with him again recently. He didn't know what it was, but whatever he thought about always threw him into a rabbit hole of sagas and one thing led to another until his thoughts yarned together and he couldn't remember where they began in the first place.

He'd do it when talking to people, too, and Phil was an especially good conversational companion for that because he did the same thing, even though they'd both tend to let their irrelevant banter get out of hand and distract them from whatever they were supposed to be doing.

Like what was happening now.

Dan turned his head to look down to Mark and wondered why this didn't feel more surreal than it did. What were the chances of him turning up here on this day?

Maybe it was something Sean had planned and that was why he was so late… but probably not.

"Oh, _look_ ," Mark chirped in his usual jolly manner after a few moments, " _There_ they are!"

And, sure enough, right ahead of them, Sean and Phil were still in exactly the same place that Dan left them.

Phil was lolled out on his back over the table with his legs dangling over the back of the chair, looking a bit bored. He lifted his gaze to stare up to Dan and Mark as he saw them and swung his legs off the chair so he could sit up on the tabletop.

"Hello!" Dan smiled, wrapping his arms around him and giving him a brief hug – not too long, as they _were_ being watched by two other people – before letting go again.

"You missed the show," Phil coughed, putting his feet up on the table and resting his arms on his knees.

"Oh, did I?" Dan muttered, "Oh well… You wouldn't _believe_ who I ran into, though!"

Phil looked to him with a black expression,

"Markiplier?" He 'guessed'.

"Yeah… how did you guess?"

"I have eyes, you know, Dan?" He sniggered, glancing over his friend's shoulder.

Sean and Mark, too, both seemed pretty happy to see each other for the first time in quite a while and greeted each-other with a handshake and pat on the back.

Mark eventually turned to Phil and gave him a beaming smile, holding out his hand,

"Hey!" He grinned, his voice resonant as per usual.

Phil slid off the table to shake his hand properly, looking a tad confused but also pretty enthusiastic; the caffeine had clearly done him a world of good.

Dan thought it strange to see Phil look so tall against both Mark and Sean – when they were alone, it never really became evident how leggy they both were, but compared to somebody else, he just looked lanky.

"Hey," Phil nervously laughed, "Nice to see you!"

"You, too," Mark nodded, quickly wrapping his arms around him and patting his back.

As he let go, Dan instinctively pulled Phil closer, being as over-protective as he is, and swiftly changed the subject.

"So are you going to stick with us, Mark, or go off on your own again?" He asked.

"Ah, I might as well stay with _you guys_ ," Mark replied, cheerily, "Nice to go around in a group and all, _right_?"

"Right!" Sean agreed, clearly fond of the idea.

"Well, that's that, then," Dan concluded as he watched Mark retrieve the map from his pocket.

"Where should we head to?" He asked.

"Where is there?" Phil hummed, which was an odd question to ask. No particular reason _why_ it was odd, it just _was._ 'Where is there?' – it was just not phrased very well.

In his mind, Dan decided to scroll through all the better things his friend could have said for a good three minutes.

"We could just see what we come across first," He offered at last, "After all, it's always nice to chat and catch up."

"Agreed," Phil concurred, but of course he would agree because he agrees to almost anything as long as he doesn't have a better idea himself.

So of course they all just set off in any old direction to see what they could find. None of them had been to this particular park before and so naturally none of them knew their way around.

"So… why is this place closing again?" Sean asked after a few minutes, lifting his gaze to Dan, who was walking beside him to his left.

Dan opened his mouth to answer, but realised that he didn't actually know the reason.

"I read something about a… roller coaster accident," Mark put in from Sean's right, "Or maybe it wasn't a crash, I can't remember… Whatever it was, people kept getting killed and their families sue the company so now they don't have any choice but to close down."

"I am… mildly perturbed by that," Dan mumbled, realising that he, too, could easily have died a while earlier.

"Don't worry about it, Dan," Phil comforted, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Coaster accidents aren't all that common; I'm sure they'd make sure everything was doubly as safe as usual for the closing day – I'm certain we'll be fine."

"Famous last words!" Sean added, jokingly, and everybody gave a chuckle… except Dan.

He had a funny feeling about him that started as a shiver moving down his spine, around his ribs and stabbing at his heart. He was sure he'd heard someone explain a similar feeling once before…

But whatever this feeling _was_ was irrelevant: he'd pieced together his thoughts and finally deduced that what had happened wasn't a roller coaster _or_ an accident.


	4. In Line

"It won't be a long wait."

"Are you _sure_?"

"Totally; they can fit 10 in one carriage on that flume," Sean nodded, putting his hands into his pockets.

Mark looked down to him and bit his lip,

"Alright, then, Jack…" he agreed, finally.

The two of them were debating whether or not they had enough time to send Phil and Mark off on their own for a bit whilst Sean and Dan stayed in the queue for the biggest coaster in the park. The line was about an hour long and if Phil (who hadn't seemed entirely enthused by the idea) and Mark both hurried off, they'd be back in time to rejoin the queue just before they got on, as long as Sean and Dan kept their space.

Even though he was usually defensive of his friend, Dan was happy enough to send Phil off with Mark for a bit. As long as he was entertained, that was what was important.

Dan was still on edge about this whole accident thing that Mark had mentioned earlier and Phil's words of assurance hadn't really eased his imagination from running wild. He and Phil shared a trait: if something could go wrong, however unlikely that thing might be, their minds would convince them that it would.

Or at least, they _usually_ shared that trait: Phil hadn't really been so bothered that all of the rides here were falling to pieces, but maybe Dan was just over-thinking it again.

And so he and Sean sent them both off on their own to go and queue for the log flume (Sean's suggestion). They were, as far as Dan knew, the biggest and supposedly best rapids in the world, with a final 50-foot drop down into the water below.

Dan didn't fancy getting wet and neither did Sean, so they voluntarily stayed behind to save their friends' spot in the queue.

Giving a heavy sigh, Dan looked up to the coaster tracks running along above him. He was nervous, though he knew he shouldn't be: loads of trains had gone along before him and if anything _was_ going to break, it probably would have done already.

"'Ow are 'ya feelin'?" Sean asked, gently. He'd seemed to notice Dan's nerviness, too, even when Phil hadn't, which was… odd… to say the least. Phil could usually pick up on this kind of thing _easily_.

"Oh, I'm fine," Dan replied with a shy grin, though he wasn't as sure of himself as he came across.

He still had his… feeling.

Something was going to go wrong and he knew it for a fact; nothing in a run-down old theme park with hundreds of people visiting could surely ever hold up long enough…

Dan's eyes scanned around the park and his gaze eventually settled on the swing boat. It looked the least sturdy thing in the whole place.

It was so covered in rust on the supports that it looked almost orange where it should have been silver and the creaking as it swung back and forth was loud enough to drown out even the loudest screams of the people riding the roller coaster right ahead.

"You know," Sean started, thoughtfully, following Dan's stare to the boat, "I think this whole place would do a lot better if that show thing from e'rlier was the main attraction… they could close the whole park and just keep that and it would be fi'ne."

Dan couldn't really agree with him because he hadn't actually seen this 'show' thing that he was going on about, but it mustn't have been long because he'd only been gone for a short while before coming back with Mark. Apparently it was good, though, so he just gave a hum of thought and replied with,

"You think so, do you?"

"Yeah, it wa'sn't all too shabby, actu'lly," Sean nodded in confirmation, "I was surprised."

"What happened?" Dan asked, putting his hands behind his back and tapping his foot on the ground to the rhythm of the theme music playing for the queue (of which sounded a bit like a song that he knew – and that song was _not_ a roller coaster theme).

"Well, there was all these people all dressed as pirates and they came oot, told a story aboot Black Beard and acted it all oot, like," Sean said in his Irish accent, pronouncing all 'out' sounds at 'oot'.

"Oh," Dan hawed, for want of a better reply, "It was good, then?"

"Oh, yeah, they seemed like they were all professional actors… though they probably weren't."

"Too bad I missed it, I suppose."

Dan lifted his eyes to the sky and he could see the highest part of the coaster: the end of the incline, the part before the drop. He had no idea why he was in line to get on here if he was so concerned about the safety in this park.

Maybe it was because he was dragged into it by Sean, who he had decided was definitely mint hot chocolate.

So here he waited, slightly bored, for the return of Espresso and Mocha.

No, that's wrong…

Phil and Mark.

The drink analogy had to stop.

He still had an odd sharp sensation in his chest; he knew that something wasn't quite as it should be but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Something was going to go wrong, he just knew it.

He was about to open his mouth to speak when he heard a noise cascading from quite a long distance away… a loud, blood-curdling sound.

Screaming.

But not the happy, excited screams that would usually be heard at a theme park, more like absolutely terrified screams of a group of people who were about to die.

Their shouts for help were followed by the most deafening crashing noise that Dan had ever heard and a very loud splash like a large structure falling into semi-shallow water.

Both he and Sean knew exactly what it was.

The log flume.


	5. Sway

Dan's heart raced.

It felt as if it was beating so fast that it would burst out of his ribcage and go tumbling onto the ground and along the path.

And then he would die.

He wasn't dead yet, but he felt like he was having a mild heart attack; he'd known something wasn't right from the moment Mark and Phil had left him.

He vaulted over the queue barrier and without warning or telling Sean what he was doing, he raced off in the direction of the log flume. He urgently wanted to know what happened but was really just concerned about his best friend.

And Mark; he was worried about Mark, too. What would the Internet be without more SCP Containment Breach?

Dan's long and gangly legs covered more ground than Sean could and it didn't take him long at all to reach the scene of the… _accident_ , bypassing surprised onlookers (a few of which he accidentally knocked on the arm as he sped past) and avoiding small, crying children who were almost as terrified as he was.

He seemed to be the only one moving to the scene – everyone else just stood around, looking shell-shocked – in fact, he seemed to be the only one moving _full stop_ ; the world came to a standstill around him and nothing seemed to matter anymore, he couldn't even hear or focus on any sounds, he could only frantically scan his eyes around the place. Nothing seemed real; he could feel himself go dizzy. Nothing moved.

Skidding to a halt, Dan stared up to the top of the flume where it had broken away and the water came cascading over the edge where there should have been a track.

It was so high…

It seemed humanly impossible that anybody could ever survive a drop from that height. And nobody probably did.

Dan checked the queue.

No sign of his friends.

They'd had plenty of time to get in line; there was no way that they couldn't have gotten here yet.

They… They'd had to be on that ride; that one dreaded ride. They could have been anywhere else but no. No. They just had to be on that one ride that would send them to their deaths.

Of course they had to be.

Unless…

"PHIL!" Dan called, spinning around and frantically checking the scene for any sign of them - anything at all.

He saw nothing.

His vision had blurred and his eyes were dry, he didn't even have _time_ to blink as far as he was concerned.

He couldn't identify anybody's faces anyway, but he kept on looking. He couldn't give up hope, there had to be something: there just _had_ to be a little glimmer, a tiny glimpse of a chance that maybe-

"I'm right here, Dan."

And that was when his heart seemed to stop.

With one gentle touch to his shoulder, his whole world seemed to reform itself.

He turned to his right and there he was, looking traumatized but holding up his composure as best he could.

"Oh… _Phil_ …" Dan panted, trying to regain his breath, and he stumbled forward to hug his friend in his arms, but for some strange reason, he felt too light – like he wasn't actually there.

Phil made a short, sharp noise as Dan picked him up, that could only possibly written down as ' _wra!'_

"I was so worried about you!" Dan breathed into his raven black hair, gently swaying him from side to side.

Phil gave a shy laugh,

"You don't have to worry now," he assured him, "I'm here."

"Where's Mark?" Dan asked, concerned, placing him back down on his feet.

Phil pointed a thumb over his shoulder to gesture that Mark stood only a few feet behind him, looking very confused as he stared up to the broken log flume to his right.

"Why are you here, then?" Dan swallowed, still keeping a hand placed on Phil's shoulder.

"Oh, Mark saw a poster about space put up next to that weird spinny ride thing designed like a saucer and he insisted on reading it and looking at all the diagrams. I was considering going off on my own but that wasn't the arrangement, so I just stuck with him," Phil explained.

Dan breathed a sigh of relief as Mark slowly walked up to them, eyes wide,

"Are you alright, Dan?" He asked.

Dan nodded but he was still internally freaking out, tiny beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. He really wasn't used to the running.

"Just about," he affirmed as he heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind.

Turning about, he saw Sean, who had only just arrived, being much shorter than Dan. He wore an expression that made it out that he had run into multiple people on the way here.

" _Mark!"_ He wheezed, looking to his friend as he eventually slowed down to a standstill, " _What's going on?"_

But then he lifted his gaze upwards and saw the wrecked flume ahead and made a shocked and anxious face.

"I think we should leave," Phil breathed, his breath husky, "That breakage was in no way an accident, I just know it…"

"You're right, pal," Dan agreed, sensing a very odd air about the whole thing.

Rides don't break like that, they don't just snap, it's not something that happens, this had to have been caused by something or someone who wanted to harm people.

There didn't seem to be many people rushing to the scene – only a few medics who didn't really look like they were at all surprised or bothered by the recent occurrence.

This wasn't an accident.

This was intended.

"We need to get out of here as fast as possible," Dan continued, meeting eye contact with a technician who stood looking down into the water where the structure had fallen before lifting his head to see Dan.

Surely everybody on that boat was critically injured, if not dead now. Why was nobody panicking? Not even Phil, who was usually exceedingly empathetic, was panicking or even seemed overly disconcerted, just a little bit uneasy.

It was then that they all left.

It didn't seem like they moved at all, really, to Dan; one moment they were beside the water and the next they were outside the gates. They'd snuck out and nobody had seemed to notice them slinking away apart from some staff who had flashed them a few questionable looks as they went.

Why wasn't this more distressing than it should have been? Is it because he'd expected it? Surely not… surely that couldn't have lessened the impact of knowing people actually _died._

None of that was a mistake and everybody knew it.

End.


End file.
